Women's Christian Temperance Union as an early Feminist movement

[CreekDog]

A while back I was studying some United States religious history to figure out why wine isn't served in communion in most Protestant churches and came across an interesting name and interesting early Feminist movement, called the Women's Christian Temperance Union and its leader, Frances Willard. Yes, they were famous for trying to get wine out of communion and at about the same time, Dr. Welch of Vineland, New Jersey figured out how to stop grape juice from fermenting and becoming wine.

The point that fascinates me is that the same movement and people that vastly advanced civil rights in this country, also likely helped create Prohibition of alcohol. Reality is always complex and not the clean story arc that we like to think about. Yet despite this, Frances Willard and the movement she led, were very progressive. Then, it seems that women and churches were the source of liberal change and expansion of civil rights, half of that picture being very hard to conceive of in 2012.

"Although she was not a minister, Frances Willard had several lasting impacts upon American Christianity. First, with her leadership in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Willard and her ladies were against using wine for communion. Beginning in 1876, grape juice began to be used in place of wine in Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational denominations. The Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Catholics continue to use wine.[xlviii] Secondly, because of her outreach, women of all denominations and faiths worked together in a common cause, allowing for more religious tolerance and cooperation in America.

http://are.as.wvu.edu/willard.html

Despite my own judgement of that particular thing that brought Willard to my notice, this movement was very important in civil rights. Willard is arguably a great influence on liberalism as we know it today, and yet like all movements and leaders within them, they are always 'of their time' in fascinating ways.

"Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Her influence was instrumental in the passage of the Eighteenth (Prohibition) and Nineteenth (Women Suffrage) Amendments to the United States Constitution. Willard became the national president of the World Woman's Christian Temperance Union, or World WCTU, in 1879, and remained president for 19 years. She developed the slogan "Do everything" for the women of the WCTU to incite lobbying, petitioning, preaching, publication, and education. Her vision progressed to include federal aid to education, free school lunches, unions for workers, the eight-hour work day, work relief for the poor, municipal sanitation and boards of health, national transportation, strong anti-rape laws, and protections against child abuse.[1]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Willard_(suffragist)

I'm also thinking about Feminist history and the history of all civil rights movements and how they teach us about important people, who should always be looked at objectively.

The lesson I think is to appreciate the leaders that came before us for what contributions they gave, but to always decide for ourselves the things we value now and not accept unequivocally that great leaders were right about all things, including what we should think.

So when you define "Feminism", the definition should respect history and be accurate, but it should belong to the people that choose to define it and advance it now.